Vehicle body



f l A 1,475,329 f NGV- 279 C. AI`W/3LE5 l VEHICLE BODY Fiied Nov. 9.1920 /45/5' '/4-4 Fmi /5 lNVENTOR AToRNEY Patent Nov. 27, 1923.

site l il,

I CLAUDE A. wIlL-Es, OF BROSKLYN, WEET ORK, TG THE EASSENGEB LOB-RYCOMPANY, Lit CORPORATEN QF DELAWARE.

"centena sont?.

`Applicationv ile November 9, 19%. Serial llo. @1779.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it lmown that l, CLnUDn A. lVALrs, a citizen of the United States,and resident of" Brookl n, in the county oi' Kings and State of ew York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle Bodies, ofwhich the following is a specification. y

`This linvention relates to motor vehicles, and has particular referenceto a combina tion frame and Vehicle body particularly intended for thetransportatwn of passengers and freight wherein a special constructionis desirable in order to enable the passengers to enter and leaveAwithout an objectionable number of steps up and down, and also enablingthe entrance andA exit oi the passengers to be under the directobservation and control of the drivenllor freight, similar conditionsapply in order to save time at stops.

In dealing with the problems of safely, quickly and economicallyhandling passengers with buses operated yby one manv who may have tocollect fares, make change, operate doors, and answer questions, besidestaking on and lettingr of passengers, watching other tra-ille, andcontrolling' his motor, speed, and brakes, it is found that unnecessaryand expensive delays occur where there are several steps tobe negotiatedbetween the ground and the car floor. It is further found that amomentary crowding,r ot passengers within the caron an intermediateloading orentrance platform is unobjectionable, provided that they donot inter-- -fere with the controls and doors, where thc latter areused. It is further found that even with the lowest practicable forms ofmotor Vehicle spring suspensions intended to lower the frame and body,several steps are necessary between the floor and thc ground, as motorvehicle .side frames have to be of considerable depth to obtain lichtWeight, and cannot be dropped sufficiently to eliminate a step andlstillretain the nec essary road clearances unless inadc shallowv andexcessively heavy. l have thcrefom devised a light motor vehicle trainemore fully described in an application filed November 9, 1920, SerialNo. 422,778. together with a cooperating body especially intended vforpassenger vehicles, which ran be hung as 10W as thencccssary clearancepermits on any desired form of spring suspension and about the. centerof the frame to the outer body line, and be at or about opposite thedrivef'ls .seat on the left hand side of the vehicle just behind themotor, this frame carrying a body provided with the usual' frontwindshield, the drivers seat, and a door elevated above the latorin andextending back to the rear o the vehicle. This back portion will beprovided with seats in a passenger bus or be simply a floor space forfreight, er partly both, @as may be desired. The entrance doors willpreferably be flush with the outside line of the body at the edge of theplatform, and ordinarily justin back of the wind shield. i

there thus results a vehicle body having pressed about a step below themain floor of the body, and also below the floor carrying the driversseat, and capable of holding several standing passengers, packages offreight, mail sacks, ete., ready for quick transshipinent at thestopping points. Also, the operations of discharging and taking onpassengers .and freight are under the observation of the driver, whofurthermore cannot be interfered with by passengers, in watching othertrafiic, street intersections,- and prospective passengers. )\ving tothe special traine c(instruction-employed, such a vehicle will belightand, have a low "center of gravity without sacriice of strength andthe piatiorxn can be built as low as permissible road clearances allow,so that a passenger can step directly between theplatform and the curb,or only one step between the roadway and the platformwhereupon the doorscan be closed and the vehicle can start while the passengers arepaying-fares and" vform and can be put off with Very ylittle or nolowering, and incoming freight can be temporarily stored on the platformand dis-v tributed, as by a helper, after the vehicle stops.

The invention is shown in the accompanyiner drawings in several forms,wherein lipgure l is a plan vievv of one form of bod oi'vehicleincluding my invention;v

4igyure 2 is a. plan view of a modification; and

Figure 3 is a further modication Jfor both passengers and freight. A 1represents a longitudinal frame member of usual form composed of a deepbut narrow vertically disposed channel., preferably dropped at themiddle according to standard automobile practice, and 2 representsa` conoperating frame member which is deiected or recessed at an intermediateportion, as at 3, to accommodate a lowered entrance space or pit, thebody or" which isiormed by a platform 4 extending outwardly past theaxis of member Q to the side line of the body andcarried at the bottomor below the side member 2 so as to be about an easy step abovetheground, or at about the beight'of an ordinary curb. According to thespecific embodiment illustrated, the longitudinal member 2 is laterallyinwardly recessed at 3 toward the other` longitudinal member 1. Themembers 1 and 2 are suitabl connected by crossmembers of approved erinshown in detail in said application, and `also by .canopy top vmay be'ure il special transverse crosslmembers .li-5,Which. act to both stienthe' frame atthe recessed portion and to resist torque and warpingstrains of the4` body frame. The body is supported on any approved forniof front and rear springs and carries the usual wheels with motor at thefront, steering-wheel (i, gear shift 7 and clutch and bralce pedals 8, 9in front of the drivers seatl() on the left of the body opposite theplatform e. 12 is the Windshield 13 the body and lli are doors pivoteden the stanchion l5, or the doors may be of the collapsible type, oreven gates, commonly used on street cars. The door of the body iscarried on transverse stringere mounted on top of the side frames l, 2,in the usual manner, the door being of course cut out to extend aroundthe edge of the pit formed by the platform el and the recessed portion 3o frame 2. The upper part of the body may be roofed and provided withWindows, atd iront and rear portions, or a provided, or a stationWagontype, etc., as desired.

In Figure"l l longitudinal vseats i6 are shown and arear cross-seat l?,while in Fig individual seats i8 are shown with back to back-Yseats 19and the cross-seat 1'?. 2G is s small :seat facing backward adiacent thedrivers seat l0.

ln Finire 3 the rear part :2O of the bod" is left c ear for tir/eight',in connection with remesa the longitudinal seats 21. The passenger andfreight compartments may be separated by a partition 22 with centerdoor, if desired.

This invention provides a light and 'yet commodious vehicle by which thetraiic can be much more expeditiously handled than with vehicles incommon use at the present time, because one man can operate this vehicleas a passenger vehicle and at the same time supervise the control of thevehicle end the lentrance and exit oi passengers without beinginterfered with by them, as the driver is above and out of the Wavoil`the flow or passengers between the platform and the seatingffspace. .Avehicle having a driver and a he per of this type will be veryeconomical to operate because of the saving in time at stopping pointspermitted by loading; or unloadincF the goods to platform fl. Thus thehelper can pick. out the goods to be discharged at the next stop and canput them on the platform ready to dischar e., on can be put on t e.

while 'goods to be taken platform and the vehicle started and thendistributed et leisure. At the lpresent timeJ there is much. loss oitime at stops because the packages' practically have to 'be'moved moreor less stop.

made in the speciliefdetails herein described, and in the arrangement,Without departing from the scope of the appended clima.

l 'claimw l. A. motor vehicle comprising a body structure having-g aAdoor, roof, sides and liront and rear portions, a cross braced framebelow vsaid body structure, having longitudinal members extending thelgreater part oi' the length of said trame, one o said members being.detlected to provide a. pit space below the main iioor level,` a depressed entrance platform carried by said member to constitute a doorior said pit and located within an easy step of the ground, below thetop of said longitudinal member, said platform 4esteriding substantiallyinwardly past the axis of the longitudinal member from adjacent the sideof the vehicle, and a drivcrs seat located adjacent said entranceplatform. 5 2. il. one man operated bus comprising an engine located inthe 'forward portion thereofo a body structure having a iioor, roof,sides and `front and rear portions, a cross braced frame below said bodystructure, having longitudinal members extending the greater part oi thelength of said fra/me, one oi' said members being' interinediatelydeiected to provide a pit space below A'the main door level, a depressedentrancev platform err-led by id member to constitute a iloor i'oi' saidpit vlind located Within an. easy step ei the ground, below the top ofsaid longithe length of the lvehicle Aat the Various modiications and'changes can be' lll) substantially inwardly past the axis of thelongitudinal member fromadjacent the side of V'ilreveliicle to adjacentthe longitudinal center of the vehicle, and cross ,members bracing saidlongitudinal frame members.

A motor vehicle comprising a body structure having a floor, roof, Sidesand front and rear portions, a cross braced frame below said bodystructure. having longitudinal members extending ille greater parl olthe length of said frame, oneiof said membersbeing laterally inwardlyrecessed to provide a pit space below the main floor level, a depressedentrance platform carried by said membei1 to constitute a floor for saidpit and located within an easy step of the ground, below the top of saidlongitudinal member, Said platform extending substanf tially inwardlypast the axis of the longitudinal member from adjacent the side of thevehicle', and a drivers seat located adjacent said entrance platform.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this8th day of November A. D. 19:20.

CLAUDE A. WALES.

